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How to Buy a Good Saw Blade

Posted on Thursday, March 10th, 2011 at 4:26 pm.

How to Buy a Good Saw Blade

“How to buy a good saw blade?” is a question that comes up frequently. It is especially difficult because saw blades are pretty much performance only.  There’s really very little you can do to a saw blade without affecting its performance.

Following is a comparison I did with three different saw blades. It is in no way a complete comparison but it does give some simple tools to use when examining saw blades.

Analysis of Three Saw Blades

comparison of three saw blades

three saw blades for inspection and comparison

The top blade is a custom-built blade from Carbide Processors sold under the name World’s Best.  The metal blade is a Japanese import from a company with an excellent name in tools. The bottom blade is a Chinese import from a company that is eight years old.

Size of saw tips

The first and easiest thing to check is the size of the carbide saw tips.  Tungsten carbide is a very expensive material so the use of a larger tip generally means a higher quality saw blade. A bigger saw tip benefits the user two principal ways. A bigger, thicker saw tip means more sharpenings and thus more time between retipping.  Even with the most modern carbide grades nothing takes the place of sheer mass for durability. A bigger piece of carbide is much more likely to survive both routine cutting and the occasional unpleasant surprise such as a nail buried in the board.

Saw tip sizes on comparison blades

Saw tip sizes on comparison blades

As you can see from the chart, the custom saw blade had far and away the largest tips followed by the Chinese saw blade and then the Japanese saw blade.

Assessing braze quality

Analysis of brazing on three saw blades 

Brazing quality

The next thing to check is the quality of the brazing. What you look for is regular, consistent brazing. Both the top blade, the custom blade, and the bottom blade, the Chinese blade, have beautifully consistent brazing. The metal blade, the Japanese blade, shows variations in the brazing from tip to tip. You can readily see this by the differences in the yellow globs of braze alloy behind the tips.

If we look closer at the brazing we can see several things. In all three pictures you can see the saw tip on the right and the steel saw shoulder on the left. In between you can see a ridge of the braze alloy. What happens is that the tip is brazed on a little oversize so they can be ground down to sharpen it and make it the exact size. This leaves the flat ridge behind the saw tip because they grind down a little of the braze alloy when they grind the carbide.

If you look at the left-hand in the middle pictures you will see a little bit of color on the steel to the left of the saw tip. This is very good. It means that the steel was very clean and very receptive to the braze alloy. A wee bit of the braze alloy actually wicked its way out onto the steel. This is a very good indicator that the pocket was properly prepared so the braze joint is very, very strong.

By comparison the right picture shows that the braze alloy bulged up behind the tip and did not flow out onto the steel. This may still be a good braze joint but this steel could have been cleaner when the brazing was done.

There is a black circle in the middle of the braze alloy in the right picture. There is Zinc in the braze alloy. Zinc has a low boiling point. If the braze alloy gets too hot the zinc boils out and leaves these holes. A couple of small holes are okay. This is a large hole.  Again, this may be a very good braze joint but the quality could be a little tighter.

If you look at the right-hand picture you can see a ready/orange line just to the left of the tip. There are two ways to braze saw tips. One way is to use solid braze alloy and the other is to use a sandwich of braze alloy/copper/braze alloy. Both ways can give excellent brazes.

Traditionally the sandwich was used for very large parts to compensate for the difference in coefficients of expansion between tungsten carbide and steel. Typically the part had to be at least a half inch in at least one dimension and usually larger before the sandwich was used. When silver was around five dollars an ounce this sandwich material was much more expensive than solid braze alloy due to fabrication costs.  Now that silver is at $38 an ounce this sandwich is a much less expensive material.

Again, both materials can give excellent braze quality.                        

Pricing

The World’s Best, custom-built, saw blade retails for $101.99

The Japanese import with the famous name retails for $91.00

The unknown Chinese import retails for $59.00

Conclusion:

There are many, many other factors that go into judging a saw blade.  Using just the very basic comparisons above the best saw blade is the World’s Best, custom-built saw blade.

It is also the most expensive and has a lead time of 2 to 4 weeks since each one is built to order.

The best blade overall, again using just a very simple tests above, is the relatively new Chinese import that no one’s ever heard of.

Quite honestly, I was shocked once I start examining the Japanese blade. I’ve been familiar with this brand name for at least a decade and always had a great deal of respect for it. This is not what I expected to see.

Cautionary note:

identifying cracks and fibers

If you are inspecting sawblades and see a saw tip with lines in it don’t get too excited. Typically, new saws are oiled prevent them from rusting and the oil does a wonderful job of attracting fibers.

On the left is a picture of a saw tip with cloth or paper fibers on it.  This is perfectly acceptable as the fibers just wipe off. On the right is a picture of a badly cracked saw tip. Something went horribly wrong during the grinding; maybe a clogged wheel or too much pressure. In any case the saw tip was hot enough that it cracked in several places. Incidentally, this is a saw tip on a saw blade I bought over the Internet. It is from one of the most famous and most expensive saw blade manufacturers in the country.

sales@carbideprocessors.com

800 346-8274


A Customer Service Story

Posted on Tuesday, March 8th, 2011 at 10:56 pm.

A Customer Service Story

I’m extremely fortunate to have two very, very good people in customer service but occasionally problems occur.

Today, March 4, we heard from a customer who had been waiting since February 7 for his order from Woodpeckers.

We have a Woodpeckers inventory here but sometimes it is just much cheaper for the customer to have a drop ship from Woodpeckers instead of having it first shipped here to us and then shipped to the customer.

In this case we had the order drop shipped from Woodpeckers. It was sent to an address in California which was unfortunate because the customer lives in Idaho.  Now Woodpeckers is extremely good but they’re still human so the occasionally, rarely, but occasionally make a mistake.

Renée got a call from the customer today and tracked the order. That’s how she found out that it went to California instead of Idaho.

Renée told the customer that we would have a duplicate shipment sent to him in Idaho. It would go out overnight at our expense. She then contacted Woodpeckers who not only shipped immediately but they decided that they would pay the overnight freight which was about $226.

After this was taken care of, we got thinking about the customer and the trouble he went through.  We decided we ought to do something else for him.  So Renée called the customer and told him how we felt and that he had his choice of either a $50 credit or we would give him my very own, personal, 640, limited production square.

I got lucky because the customer didn’t want my 640 square. What he did want was a product we don’t sell. So Renée bought the product retail from a competitor and had it shipped to the customer. We then billed the customer the $179.00 less the $50 credit for a total of $129.

Obviously I am bragging here but I am very proud of my staff and their genuine desire to do right by the customer.

Renée is the e-commerce manager and her bonuses and raises are based on how much money the website makes. However there was never any hesitancy that we spend what it takes to do right by this very nice customer.

I would like to make money from my website because I would like to retire someday. However, I decided many years ago that I was going to run a successful business by doing things right. Among many other things, doing things right definitely means taking care of the customer.

I’ve spoken before about my dad. Dad was a big believer in things like telling the truth and owning up when you made a mistake. He definitely felt that part of owning up was make it right for anybody you had hurt or inconvenienced in any way.

sales@carbideprocessors.com

800 346-8274


What Makes a Great Tool?

Posted on Tuesday, March 8th, 2011 at 10:54 pm.

What Makes a Great Tool?

The only real answer to what makes a great tool lies in the mind of the person actually using that tool.

For a few years we sold a very special knife alloy to custom knife makers. It was a great alloy and very expensive but it made wonderful knives.  We are active on the forums and knife makers would post about how great the knife alloy was. Knife users would post about how great the alloy was. There were a couple of people who would then post and say that we were wrong. They would say that the knife alloy was not that good. If the person who makes the knife and the person who uses the knife both love the knife then I don’t see where anyone else has a right to tell them that they are wrong.

We had to quit selling this alloy because Mitsubishi got so busy that they didn’t want to make it for us anymore.

If you’re in the tool business for any amount of time at all you realize that there is no such thing as two identical users.  We hosted a dinner in Las Vegas for some guys from sawmills when we were developing our advanced cermet grades of saw tips. There were two filers there from the same company in Canada. Their mills were only a couple miles apart, they were cutting the same thing and the mills were about as identical as sawmills get.  One filer explained why he changed saws once every eight hours and why that was the way to do it. The other filer explained why he changed saws every four hours and why that was the way to do it.  Both ran excellent mills and got excellent results. Both definitely have their own way of doing things, though.

A huge problem in the industry is magazine ranking of various saw blades or router bits. No matter how carefully they do it, and I have consulted with them enough to really appreciate how thorough they are, they cannot duplicate the experience for each and every user.

Even with something such as a router bit or a tablesaw blade the individual user has a great deal to do with how good the results are.

In addition, people learn to use certain tools. If you use and like a certain tool it can take a bit of an an adjustment to switch to a similar but different tool. I used to have a Chrysler convertible, which was an automatic, and a Toyota pickup, which was a stick.  More than once, I got into the Chrysler and reached down for the stick because I had been driving the Toyota a lot and got used to it.

This makes it extremely difficult for those of us that design and build new tools. Our World’s Best saw blades have a total runout of 0.002 inches which is as good as can be done with today’s technology. The best you find in a big box blade is typically 0.004 inches and runout up to 0.008 inches is common.

Unfortunately, just because our saw blade runs straighter and truer does not necessarily mean that you’re going to like it better than the blade you have been using. That is the way to bet and that is the way it works out the great majority of the time.  But there is still, occasionally, somebody who likes their old blade better. That’s why we tell people this up front and that’s why everything we sell comes with 100% satisfaction guarantee.

sales@carbideprocessors.com

800 346-8274


Saw Blade Failure Analysis

Posted on Saturday, March 5th, 2011 at 1:39 am.

Saw Blade Failure Analysis

Note: this is a small picture version to make it easier to load. I can supply larger, clearer pictures if you wish.

Analysis of saw blade failure. The problem is that all the tips came off while the saw was being run.

These pictures show the saw blade. The black is dried pitch and similar. On the upper left, about 10 o’clock in the left photograph, you can see a clear patch. This is an area that I repeatedly treated with easy off oven cleaner and scrubbed with a steel brush.

Saw blade failure with tip loss
saw blade with tip loss
Saw blade failure with tip loss close up

Saw blade failure tip loss close up

 

 These two pictures are of the same saw tip. The right one has been cropped and blown up. This tip illustrates the two major problems. The first one is a gumming issue.  In the right picture the top arrow points to the area where the saw tip was. The bottom red arrow points to the gullet. The lines from laser cutting look to be about the same. This notch should have been gummed deep enough to remove about 0.005” to 0.007” of material.  It looks as though the notch may not have been gummed it all.

 The second problem is illustrated by the big bulge of braze alloy above the top arrow. It looks as though the saw tip was seated with some pressure behind it. The saw tips should just be guided into the notch during the brazing process. You should not push on them to seat them.

Saw blade analysis showing where the tip was

Saw blade analysis empty notch

Saw blade analysis two causes of failure

Saw blade analysis empty notch close-up

We have an excellent brazing video on YouTube at the following address:

Why you need to gum out the notch

This is laser cut steel as is obvious by the horizontal lines running from left to right or right to left across the steel notch. The laser doesn’t really cut. It melts a hole and the molten metal is blown out with a gas.  So a laser cut is actually a series of very small holes which show up on the saw blade as a series of fine lines.

Melting the steel causes the migration of carbon to the surface which is an issue that affects successful brazing. No matter what gas is used to blow out the molten metal, you still have hot metal exposed to the atmosphere and thus you have oxidation.   Finally you have a metal slag which the blacksmiths call upset.

This leaves you with a surface that brazes kind of well. Carbide saw tips braze to this surface stay on fairly well for a fair amount of time.

The real problem is that this looks like a good braze but it isn’t. Usually brazing is a “It works or it doesn’t work” proposition. This is one of the few cases where it sort of works and then fails in use.

Saw blade tip loss explanation

Saw blade tip failure example two

Saw blade tip loss bad gumming

Saw blade tip loss second example close up

 

This is another saw tip and it again shows the horizontal lines as well as the bulge of braze alloy.

It appears that all the tips on the saw show braze alloy bulge to a certain extent and that all the tips also show the horizontal lines indicating little or no gumming.

Here are more pictures of braze alloy bulges. These look like the saw was run quite a while after the tips came off.  In addition there was a pretty heavy pitch build up in the notches also indicating that the saw was run a fair amount of time after the tips came off.

Saw blade tip loss third example

Saw blade tip loss alloy bulge 3rd example

 

Saw blade tip loss alloy bulge

Saw blade tip loss alloy pushed out

 

Saw blade tip loss alloy bulge second example

Saw blade tip loss alloy pushed out second example

 sales@carbideprocessors.com

800 346-8274


The Limited Edition Woodpeckers 640 Square Has Arrived!

Posted on Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011 at 5:54 pm.

The Limited Edition Woodpeckers 640 Square Has Arrived!

We were elated yesterday when our highly anticipated shipment of Woodpeckers 640 square arrived! From January 12 to January 24 we took pre-orders for a beautifully made to order measuring square from Woodpeckers.  This item was only available through these dates and after the 24th of January, they would not be found again.

There has been a lot of hype surrounding this little new measuring square because of its great features.  This square is made from one solid billet of aircraft grade aluminum.  To add to the uniqueness of this item, these are made to order products; Woodpeckers will only make as many as were sold.   Customers had their choice of the square only or the square with a custom hard shell case, they could also choose to have their square in inches or in metric.

Upon receiving our shipment, the first thing we noticed was the great hard shell case.  We knew it would be cool, but we didn’t think it would be this cool! For starters, it has a unique way to open it.  I will admit, I did find it to be a little tricky to open the first time.  It has a tab on each side to pull in order to open and the inside is nicely padded providing a nice cushion for your 640 measuring square.  These cases also have a small hole on each side near the opening tabs for locks if you need or want to ever lock it. Another awesome feature of this made to order measuring square is that the words “Feb. 2011” are imprinted in small print adding to the uniqueness of it being a limited time only tool.

I should mention that  Woodpeckers made this in a a particular order, first the inch models and then the metric models.  The shipment we received yesterday contains only the inch squares that were order.  We went ahead and packaged them all up for everyone yesterday.  We even included a coupon with our orders to take an additional 10% off your next order in our online store and a few little treats as a thank you for your order.  Once we receive the metric squares from Woodpeckers those will also be packaged and shipped immediately.

We are really excited about this great product and we hope that all of our customers who purchased one will too!

Check out our special preview video and see what all the hype is about: Woodpeckers 640 Square


The World’s Best Saw Blade

Posted on Tuesday, March 1st, 2011 at 4:53 pm.

The World’s Best Saw Blade

World's best saw blade from Carbide Processors

World's best saw blade from Carbide Processors

We build the world’s best saw blade. We build midsize, 10 and 12 inch saw blades using the very finest materials and techniques.

This is not a new idea. A couple of major saw and tool companies also started this way.  This is how Bob Budke started SystiMatic, Lowell Freeborn started Freeborn Tool and Jim Forrest, Sr. started Forrest saw blades.

We have been in the saw and tool industry since 1981. We started with a Weyerhaeuser contract.  If you do serious cutting, as in a Weyerhaeuser sawmill, precision saws are an absolute necessity. The difference of 1/1000 of an inch in the cut width or kerf can mean the difference of as much as $50,000 a year. Your saw blade better be tough because it can cost somewhere around $10,000 a minute if they have to shut the mill down.

Our contribution has been in the material science area especially metallurgy. We have developed advanced brazing techniques and advanced grades of saw tips. These technologies are very successful and large-scale, production applications. However no one was really interested in introducing these innovations into the 10 and 12 inch market.

After 30 years in the industry we knew the very best people and they knew us. We went out to find the best suppliers, the best equipment and the best people.

That is how we make the world’s best saw blade.

800 346-8274

sales@carbideprocesors.com


The Discontinuation of SystiMatic saw blades

Posted on Tuesday, March 1st, 2011 at 4:46 pm.

Tenryu Miter Pro Saw Blade

The Discontinuation of SystiMatic Saw Blades

As you may have heard by now, SystiMatic saw blades are being discontinued.  Simonds International, our vendor for SystiMatic saw blades, has made the decision to discontinue the SystiMatic brand after acquiring the saw blade company around 1988-99.

SystiMatic has been rated a “top value” from Wood magazine and has been a favorite of serious users for many years.  These are heavy duty blades designed to cut beautifully;  They are a solid, flat blade so they are easy to repair, re-flatten and re-tension.   The tips are extra thick which makes them harder to break and allows for extra sharpening.  SystiMatic blades are mostly seen in industry but have an excellent reputation with home users.

At Carbide Processors, we went ahead and already removed SystiMatic saw blades from our online store.  In case you wonder why you no longer found any of their saw blades on our website, that is why. An alternative to SystiMatic that we are continuing to sell is Tenryu saw blades.  Tenryu manufactures incredible saw blades.  Our engineering department considers them the finest production, mass market blades made.    The Tenryu MP-255880AB Miter Pro, miter blade plus saw blade has been rated a Bestcovery Best Pick, an online review and ranking company. We have tested these in small and large cabinet shops and they are far and away preferred and will make a great alternative to the departure of SystiMatic.


Exceptional In Every Way, Exceptional Tools

Posted on Thursday, February 17th, 2011 at 5:31 am.

Bondhus 43299 - Set of 9 Hex Bits 2Carbide Processors is by far the best place to get exceptional tools, brazing tools, saw blades, router and router accessories.  Log on to www.carbideprocessors.com or call 800-346-8274

ProHold Socket Ball  Hex Bit 9 pc set – Bondhus 43299 . Sockets included. 2″ Length. Includes sizes: 5/32″, 3/16″, 7/32″, 1/4″, 5/16″, 3/8″, 1/2″, 9/16″ & 5/8″

With ProHold Button Technology. Prohold Technology holds hex bit securely in socket

* No roll pins
* No set screws
* No loosening
* Non magnetic
* Makes all other holding systems obsolete

Easily replace a bit without replacing the socket

* No need to replace socket when bit is changed out
* The most economical solution available

Bits snap into any standard six point socket

* Quick, easy bit replacement
* No need for special tools to remove bit
* Bits can be purchased with our without sockets

With ProTanium High Torque Steel: up to 20% stronger, with more torque and twice the wear resistance of standard grades of steel.  Also with ProGuard Corrosion-resistant finish: environmentally safe, provides better tool grip, resists solvents and is 5 times more corrosion resistant than competitor finishes.

On sale Now!  Offer valid through March 31, 2011



Call Us for Additional Discounts

Posted on Tuesday, February 15th, 2011 at 6:08 pm.

Call us for Additional Discounts

A few of our vendors have distributor terms that we, as distributors, have to abide by in order to maintain distributor status.  One of the most common distributor terms that we see is setting MAP pricing.  MAP is short for minimally advertised price; basically, we cannot advertise our prices on certain items and/or vendors below their established MAP price.

For this reason,  we can’t advertise or run promotions on some of our items.  However, if need be, we can offer our customers special pricing.  Just today, we received a phone call from a customer who wanted to purchase an expensive item from us but was inquiring if we can give him any further discounts.  I explained to him that I can certainly work with him on getting a better deal and that the only reason we don’t have an available discount on that particular item that he would like to buy is because our vendor has established strict advertising guidelines that we must follow.  I was able to offer the customer an additional 5% off of his total order, which made him happy and when our customers are happy, we are happy.

We don’t mind doing special discounting here and there and we will welcome anyone and everyone to give us a call and inquire about our current promotions and deals. Another promotion that I have been slowly developing is a “Save More Money” promotion.  The more money you spend in our online store, the more money you save.  We have had quite a few customers inquire about offering discounts to orders over a certain amount.  While this promotion may not be fully implemented just yet, the coupon codes are already established. The people that called us to inquire about our discounts actually received those coupon codes and were able to save more money with us.

Some other current promotions you can take advantage of are the returning customer discount.  All returning customers receive an additional 5% off of every order when they shop in our store. For this particular promotion, it is best to create an account with our store in order for the discount to take affect each time you visit and buy from our store. Another current discount we have is  free shipping on Southeast Tool orders over $100. We also have current sales for Bondhus ProHold Technology bit and socket sets and also select Wiha items (hurry the Wiha sale ends next week) and, as always, check out our inventory reduction and closeout items for even further discounts.

Give us a call, we would love to hear from you regarding discounts and promotions 1-800-346-8274.


Vortex Spiral Router Bits

Posted on Tuesday, February 15th, 2011 at 6:01 pm.

Vortex Spiral Router Bits

Vortex Spiral Router Bit 3300

Vortex Spiral Router Bit 3300

The first word that comes to mind is beautiful. The design is beautiful, the engineering is beautiful, the machining is beautiful, and the way they work is truly beautiful.

We sell three lines of spiral router bits and Vortex is most expensive. However, Vortex also has a huge number of very, very devoted users.

Vortex router bits are just one of many tools that fall in the category of  “A little more expensive but really worth.”

They are solid carbide. The carbide is a very modern nano-grain carbide.  It is extremely homogenous. It is arguably the finest carbide available in the United States or anywhere else for this application.

The engineering is truly magnificent and somehow they figured out how to grind the most complex shapes. Incidentally, if you wanted to make your own router bits like this, you would probably need a half-million dollars for the machine and maybe 20 years of excellent education.

We love selling tools there overengineered, overbuilt and just much, much better than they have to be.  Vortex router bits definitely fall in that category.

800 346-8274

sales@carbideprocessors.com


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